It is well known that memory deficits exist in schizophrenia. However, it has been difficult to characterize them. Using the Selective Reminding memory test, 31 schizophrenic patients were assessed on their ability to learn a word list over 12 successive trails (processing which involves acquisition, maintenance and retrieval). These results were compared to recognition memory (in which retrieval or recall factors are minimized ) for the word list. Retrieval was differentially impaired and was found to correlate significantly with an anergia factor on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale. The latter may be an index of dopaminergic "push." In fact, the profile was consistent with frontal lobe patients who are considered to suffer from the "forgetting to remember" syndrome.